1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastener for fastening elongated bodies such as electric cords and tubes along the surface of a panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous electric cords are disposed inside an automobile or electric appliance. For protecting such cords, they are required to be bound together and the resulting bundle of cords to be fastened at a prescribed position. A variety of fasteners for binding cords together have heretofore been proposed and a number of such fasteners have been put into practice. However, existing fasteners of the type for fastening cords directly onto the metal panels of an automobile body or electric appliance are still not satisfactory to users. This type of fastener is fundamentally required to be fixed to a metal panel, to fasten cords to the panel so that they do not move in their longitudinal direction, to enable the cords to be unfastened with ease for maintenance inspection or replacement, and to enable the cords to be restrained again with ease.
As shown in FIG. 7, at the job site, a metal panel 101 is generally press formed to have a raised portion 102 of a trapezoidal sectional profile, and a plurality of electric cords 104 are placed in parallel on a flat portion 103 of the raised portion 102 and pressed against the flat portion 103 with an adhesive tape 105. The cords 104 are unfastened by peeling off the adhesive tape 105 and fastened again with another adhesive tape 105. Since the cords 104 cannot move in their longitudinal direction owing to the adhesive tape 105, the cord-fastening purpose is attained. However, the adhesive tape per se is not reliable and, since its adhesion is lower after it has once been peeled off, it is necessary to use a fresh piece of adhesive tape in order to again secure the cords 104. Further, since the cords 104 are directly laid along the raised portion 102, there is a possibility of the cladding of the cords 104 being damaged by burrs which may be formed on the periphery of the raised portion 102 in consequence of the press forming.
In view of the drawbacks encountered by the fastening means comprising an adhesive tape, a plastic fastener capable of repeating cord fastening and unfastening operations has been proposed in Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 64-9413. This prior art plastic fastener comprises a substrate, a holding member provided on the substrate for binding a prescribed number of electric cords together, and an engaging member with which the free end of the holding member is detachably engaged, whereby the cords can be detachably clamped. Therefore, the prior art plastic fastener can firmly fasten cords and is more reliable than the aforementioned fastening means comprising an adhesive tape. With the prior art plastic fastener, however, if the number of cords is less than the aforementioned prescribed number, it is impossible to restrain the cords against movement in their longitudinal direction, thus raising the problem of low fastening stability.